Daryl Gates and KFI ... the rest of the story

Former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates began hosting a talk show on KFI in 1992. MARK J. TERRILL, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

On April 16, 2010, former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates died of bladder cancer. He was 83. It was a big story in the Orange County Register, but the story for those of us in broadcasting began when his police career ended. And you are about to learn something that has never been told ... until now.

In early 1992, there was a sea of voices calling for Gates to step down in the wake of the Rodney King beating. A 50,000-watt voice, KFI, loudly led the charge. Frustrated talk-show hosts on the powerful station were merciless in their demands for him to resign.

The day after Gates announced that he was stepping down, KFI's program director, David G. Hall, stepped up with an offer for Gates to host a daily show at KFI.

"I knew in a million years there was no way he was going to take my phone call so I sent him a fax. I suggested to him that instead of constantly being a 10-second sound bite, he could have a full four hours to do with what he wanted."

Hall was shocked when he received a return fax saying Gates was interested. "We met and made a deal." Hall was a relatively new program director in 1992. He had just let go another controversial figure, Tom Leykis, and was planning to bring in John and Ken, who had a successful run in New Jersey. It was a timing issue for Hall. He knew that Leykis' supporters would be upset and that he needed a bridge, a program to separate the end of Leykis and the beginning of John and Ken. Enter Daryl Gates.

When Gates came aboard, Marc Germain (later Mr. KFI and Mr. KABC) was assigned to be his producer. Germain was effusive in his praise for the former chief during the time they worked together. "He was fantastic to work with and for," Germain said. "The chief never complained, never got angry."

By all accounts, Gates was the perfect employee. He listened. He interacted with the staff. He would sit in the lunch room and swap stories with whoever was there. He participated in the sales effort and met frequently with the sales department.

Gates admitted that it was pretty sweet to be on KFI, a station that once had called for his resignation. But the honeymoon period and perhaps the novelty of having the embattled police chief as a talk-show host came to an unhappy end.

Now here comes the part of the story that you don't know.

Hall met with the chief for breakfast every month or so at Foxy's Restaurant in Glendale. The program director thought Foxy's would be the perfect place to explain to Gates that his contract was not being renewed. It turned out to be a bad decision, and Hall learned a valuable lesson in the process.

"We ordered breakfast and the chief was as nice as he could be," remembered Hall. "When I told him that we would not be continuing, he turned arctic cold in an instant. He leaned on the table and with his fingers made a gun. He put them in my face and said, 'I'm going to get you.' Just 10 seconds before he was as nice as could be. I jumped back in my seat just as the food arrived. I lost all appetite at that very second. I handed him the envelope with all the severance information, got up, paid the bill and left. I got in my car and I sat there shaking for half an hour."

Nothing ever happened to Hall, but he learned to never again have that kind of conversation at a restaurant or public place. He admits that it should have taken place in his office with someone from human resources and the general manager present.

Gates lived in Highland Park, and his daily regimen was to run eight miles every morning. Hall lives in South Pasadena and would frequently see Gates during his run. "He acknowledged me but we never spoke again."

As Paul Harvey would say – now you know the rest of the story.

Odds and ends

KFWB's chef Jamie Gwen will appear in the second episode of the Food Network's "Cutthroat Kitchen," scheduled to air Sunday.

Doris Carlton of Orange County loves to listen to Chuck Cecil's "Swinging Years" every Saturday and Sunday morning beginning at 6 a.m. on K-JAZZ/88.1 FM. "His program covers artist interviews and history of the time," she wrote. "I'm learning lots."

We had an inquiry about where to find big-band music. Alice Davis of Orange County listens to the music channels on Cox Cable on her TV. "There is channel 1938, which is called Singers and Swing," she wrote. "It is my salvation! There is no DJ; the music plays continuously, and the orchestra name and tune title appear on the screen."

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